Fenito: I do not believe that I have ever said that I or my wife has cursed at a TSA employee or any screener.

Our worst sin has been to be "formally" polite rather then effusive, and to point out -- twice in scores of flights -- that a procedure is not consistant with what is explained on the website.

I fly a lot. Most security passages have been without incident. But enough have been unpleasant, and unnecessarily so, and abusive of the power the screeners have, that I am really livid about it. We give up our rights to be treated decently just because we fly?

There is nothing in the rules that says I have to be pleasant to you guys, but I do try to be. It usually works. When my wife is having a negative morning and can't be artificially cheerful to the boarding pass checker and we are then informed that her "attitude" will keep us from flying that day.... how is that protecting the air traffic system from terrorists?

All that is doing is letting an azzhole make other people miserable for the sheer joy of it. And ruining the airlines' bottom line.

AAA did a survey that showed about 25% of short-distance flyers were driving now in order to avoid the indignities of "security".

Point, game, match: Osama. We are busy defeating ourselves, dammit.